Thunderbirds (TV Series 1960–1966) - IMDb IMDb There was an error trying to load your rating for this title. Some parts of this page won't work property. Please reload or try later. X Beta I'm Watching This! Keep track of everything you watch; tell your friends. Error In the 21st century, the Tracy family operate a unique private mechanized emergency response service. Creators: The Hood plants a bomb aboard the Fireflash. Can International Rescue bring the airliner down without using its landing gear? 8.2 After Thunderbird 2 is heavily damaged in a mistaken attack, it leaves the team seemingly without a swift means to transport TB4 to New York City when a news crew is trapped underneath the collapsed ... 7.9 Lady Penelope is taken hostage by the evil Dr. Godber while helping Sir Jeremy Hodge investigate the disappearance of Professor Borender, who has developed a means of making rocket fuel out of water.

7.8 a list of 21 titles created 31 Jul 2012 a list of 40 titles created 12 Dec 2012 a list of 36 titles created 01 Nov 2013 a list of 30 titles created 13 May 2014 a list of 40 titles created 6 months ago Search for " Thunderbirds " on Amazon.com Connect with IMDb Want to share IMDb's rating on your own site? Use the HTML below. You must be a registered user to use the IMDb rating plugin. Gerry Anderson's third SF supermarionation saga told the adventures of the WASPs (the World Aquanaut Security Patrol) as they explored the oceans and kept the world safe from a variety of ... See full summary » Stars: Ray Barrett, Robert Easton, David Graham A literally unkillable agent leads an international intelligence agency's fight against an extra-terrestrial terror campaign. Stars: Francis Matthews, Ed Bishop, Donald Gray The International Rescue team is faced with one of its toughest challenges yet, as the revolutionary lighter-than-air craft Skyship One is hijacked while on her maiden voyage around the ...

See full summary » Director: David Lane The adventures of a preteen secret agent who can have any useful skills downloaded into his brain. Stars: Len Jones, Rupert Davies, Keith Alexander Thunderbirds Are Go (TV Series 2015) Animation | Action | Adventure In the future, the Tracy family run a private mechanized emergency response service. Stars: Thomas Brodie-Sangster, Rasmus Hardiker, Kayvan Novak When The Hood finds and invades International Rescue's secret base and traps most of the Tracy family, only young Alan Tracy and his friends can save the day. Director: Jonathan Frakes Fireball XL5 was part of the fleet of interplanetary rockets protecting Sector 25 of the Solar System from alien invasion under the supervision of the World Space Patrol. In command of XL5 ... See full summary » Stars: Paul Maxwell, Sylvia Anderson, David Graham Gerry Anderson's first science fiction Supermarionation series. Super Car was a prototype vehicle that could travel in the air, on land or beneath the sea. Its test pilot was Mike Mercury, ...

See full summary » Stars: David Graham, Graydon Gould, Sylvia Anderson In the year 2020 Earth is under threat from Martian androids who want revenge on the human race. They consist of Zelda, her son Yung-star and her sister called Cy-star. An organisation is ... See full summary » Stars: Jeremy Hitchen, Denise Bryer, Anne Ridler Camberwick Green (TV Series 1966) Animation | Family Iconic British children's animated series set in the fictional, picturesque village of the title. Each episode opens with a character emerging from a music box and they will be the central character of the forthcoming story. Stars: Brian Cant Children's animation from the 'Smallfilms' team of Postgate and Firmin. In the 'top, left hand corner of Wales' runs an archaic railway line staffed by such characters as Jones the Steam ... See full summary » Stars: Olwen Griffiths, Anthony Jackson, Oliver Postgate The Wombles (TV Series 1973) Animation | Family The misadventures of a fantasy folk community dedicated to cleaning up litter and put it to their own use.

Stars: Bernard Cribbins, Dieter Hallervorden Edit Storyline The year is 2065. The location is a secret island base. The Tracy family run International Rescue - a top secret organization whose ongoing mission is to aid humanity. With the support of five incredible THUNDERBIRDS craft, the London agent Lady Penelope Creighton-Ward, her butler and ex safe-cracker Parker and genius Brains, the Tracy family battle the forces of evil. Written by Back of Digitally Remastered DVD 30 September 1965 (UK) See more » Also Known As: Mono (Westrex Recording System)| Stereo (re-mastered version) Color: Did You Know? Trivia The faces of the Tracys were composites of those of famous actors: Jeff was modeled upon Lorne Greene of Bonanza (1959) fame, Alan modeled upon Robert Reed of The Protectors (1964), Scott after Sean Connery and John after Adam Faith and Charlton Heston . Virgil is an older-looking Alan and Gordon a younger version of John.

See more » Goofs In five episodes, there are newspapers with the date Friday, 24 December 1964 on the front cover, and was clearly not intended to be seen by viewers. (Oddly enough, 24 December 1964 was a Thursday). See more » Quotes Virgil Tracy : Thunderbird Two to Thunderbird One, do you read me? [Thunderbird One does not answer] John Tracy : He's got to have made it, he's GOT to. Virgil Tracy : Thunderbird Two to Thunderbird One, do you read me? [static] See more » Crazy Credits The opening credits include scenes from that week's episode. Gerry Anderson would later reuse this gimmick in "Space: 1999" (1975) and "Space Precinct" (1995). See more » Connections Thunderbirds - All The Tropes Thunderbirds Thunderbirds are go! —Opening narration Created by pre-eminent special-effects man Gerry Anderson , Thunderbirds was the story of the Tracy family, a wealthy clan of billionaire astronauts who embarked on a unique philanthropic venture.

Jeff Tracy, and his five sons (Scott, Virgil, Gordon, John and Alan) formed "International Rescue", an organization whose purpose should be self explanatory . They used technology designed by their resident Techno Wizard , "Brains", which was far beyond anything possessed by any military or civilian agency on the planet, even given the series's far future setting of the early 21st century. Every week, some monstrous disaster would occur, and the boys (primarily Scott and Virgil) would pilot their awesome Thunderbird aerospace craft to the scene, moving at speeds that would make an aeronautical engineer drool. Scott would get there first, survey the situation, and call back to Virgil, who would then arrive at the scene with the right equipment loaded into the cavernous interior of Thunderbird Two's "pod". Amongst other things, a drilling vehicle (Mole) or an underwater rover (Thunderbird Four) could be loaded into Two. There were five Thunderbirds, one for each brother: Thunderbird One: Was the most used. Looks like a space shuttle, moves like a jet fighter. Thunderbird Two: A ginormous plane that could load equipment or smaller vehicles in his hangar space.

Thunderbird Three: An actual rocketship. Mostly used to get to Thunderbird Five. Thunderbird Four: A small submarine/underwater rover. Thunderbird Five: A Space Station. Acting as an espionage back-up, to prevent any of IR's tech from being stolen and used for military or destructive purposes, was prim and proper spy Lady Penelope, and her rough-edged cockney Battle Butler Parker, in Penny's pink six-wheeled Rolls-Royce limousine, FAB 1. The miniatures used were cutting edge for the time. The show was described as feature film quality, to the point where Lord Grade, the head of the commissioning company ITC Entertainment, upped it from a half hour to an hour long drama (necessitating additional scenes to be shot for the first few episodes). Oh, and all the characters were puppets. The show was filmed in Supermarionation , which is really just souped-up marionettes . This show is a classic in its native Britain, and around the world.

The first season was such a success that it was decided to make a full-blown movie before production began on the second season; the result was Thunderbirds are GO!, wherein the Tracys must rescue an imperiled Mars rocket after a scrape with the local lifeforms . Expected to be a blockbuster of James Bond proportions, it performed poorly at the box office; amid corporate fears that the bubble had burst, Gerry Anderson was instructed that the second season be cut back to just six episodes. United Artists, surprised at the failure of the first movie, subsequently commissioned another - Thunderbird 6, where designing a new Thunderbird vehicle is put on hold when a state-of-the-art luxury airship is in danger - and this also flopped. In 2004 a live action/CGI action movie directed by Jonathan Frakes, and starring Ben Kingsley and Bill Paxton, was released. It was not well received either. There is a Recap in desperate need of assistance! Thundernerds are go! Tropes used in Thunderbirds include: All There in the Manual : The recurring villain, The Hood, was never named in dialogue or credits in the original TV episodes, only in publicity materials.

used to be a criminal used to be exclusively a criminal. Awesome but Impractical : Pretty much everything, but the Crablogger and Sidewinder get special mentions. Battle Butler : Parker. Weaponized car and all. Beware the Nice Ones : International Rescue is altruistic and will stop at nothing to get you to safety. However if you take pictures of their technology they will have Lady Penelope shoot you off the road. Broken Aesop : "Atlantic Inferno." Supposedly Scott learns that being in charge is harder than it looks. In reality, Scott is a good leader - his only problem is that his father doesn't back him up. Thunderbird Six. Jeff repeatedly turns down Brains' ideas for a new Thunderbird on the basis that the ideas are only suitable for a single type of rescue mission. Fine and good, except that (a) this applies to every single one of TB2's pod vehicles including Thunderbird 4, all of which Jeff presumably approves of, and (b) it's hard to conceive of any great number of uses for the vehicle that ultimately is made Thunderbird Six (see Cool Ship below).

Catch Phrase : "Thunderbirds are GO!", "F.A.B.", and to a lesser extent, Parker's "Yes, M'Lady". Brains' "Of course! Why didn't I think of it before?" Christmas Cake : Lady Penelope (26 years old in the original series.) Circle of Shame : In Thunderbird Six, when Brains outlines his idea of building an airship, a roomful of air industry executives laugh at him. The film's DVD Commentary points out that, since all the characters are marionettes, lots of laughing puppet heads had to be constructed even though each of them would only appear in one shot. Compilation Movie : Three, all airing in 1981, under Anderson's Super Space Theater title. Countdown to Disaster, featuring the episodes "Terror in New York City" and "Atlantic Inferno." Thunderbirds in Outer Space, featuring the episodes "Sun Probe" and "Ricochet." Thunderbirds to the Rescue, featuring the episodes "Trapped in the Sky" and "Operation Crash-Dive".

Continuity Nod : Several projects and vehicles, such as the Fireflash atomic powered airliner and the Sunprobe project, as well as characters involved in those projects, turn up more than once and reference the previous encounters. Not surprising really, they did still have the models after all. Continuity Snarl : Hoo boy! The series was first released in 1965. Since then we've had; two ( three ) movies, comics, novels, annuals, guide books and interviews with the cast/crew - all of which largely contradict themselves. Contrived Coincidence : The average rescue is set up by means of a series of comically ludicrous coincidences and horrible design / engineering. For example, in "Day of Disaster" a vehicle is transporting a giant rocket. Fully fuelled. With people inside. And it's set up with an unstoppable automatic launch countdown. And they have to cross a weak bridge. And there's a storm. And the bridge supervisors are idiots. Cool Car : F.A.B. 1. Yes, it's pink. Cool Garage : Tracy Island, with all its retractable and hidden landing and launch bays.

Cool Plane : Fireflash, a futuristic supersonic jetliner just look at it Here's a modern 3D render undeniably cool. Cool Ship : Five main ones, and many more which needed to be rescued. More specifically: Thunderbird 1, piloted by Scott, is a hypersonic aircraft powered by a nuclear thermal engine, designed for getting to the crisis scene as fast as possible to gather intel. Thunderbird 2, piloted by Virgil, is a giant less-hypersonic-but-still-fast lifting-body transport for moving the gear that Thunderbird 1 called for. (This one is unsurprisingly the most frequently seen of the lot, appearing in both (all right, all three) movies and all but one episode of the TV show.) Thunderbird 3, piloted by Alan, is an SSTO rocket used for space rescues and reaching Thunderbird 5. Thunderbird 4, piloted by Gordon, is a submarine for underwater rescues. Often transported in Thunderbird 2's pod 4. Thunderbird 5, manned by John, is a space station capable of monitoring all radio frequencies world wide to listen for distress calls.

Thunderbird 6, introduced in the movie of the same name, is an antique Tiger Moth biplane. It earned the name when it proved the only aircraft in the Tracy arsenal both light enough and slow enough to land on top of a distressed luxury zeppelin. Brains also designed several Thunderbird 6 prototypes more in-line with the original five units--each was a perfectly viable vehicle in their own right, but all were rejected because Brains was going through a Heroic BSOD at the moment. Also the Mole, used for underground rescues, and a host of souped-up construction gear hauled in TB2's pods. Cut and Paste Translation : The redubbed half-hour version from Fox Kids, as well as the truly hideous Turbocharged Thunderbirds. Darker and Edgier : The movie Thunderbird 6. It has an actual body count for crying out loud! Did Not Do the Research : The 2004 movie, which appears to have been written as a Spy Kids knockoff with the "Thunderbirds" brand added more or less as an afterthought. A particularly egregious example is when the Bank of England is misnamed the "London Bank".

Also, in the DVD extras, Thunderbird 3 (the spaceship) is described as having a top speed of "5000 MPH" ? er, people, try sticking a 2 on the beginning of that, or better still, an extra 0 on the end. Also in the movie, not only do the news reporters refer to them as the Thunderbirds and not International Rescue , but they filmed them. If you were an uber Thundernerd , you'd think "Where's the damn Automatic Camera Detector?! I thought they weren't supposed to be filmed!" Though in the more modern world, the idea that they can keep everyone from filming them is pretty silly, when every Tom, Dick and Harry is carrying around some sort of digital camera. Even the most repressive of the world's governments are finding that it's nearly impossible to keep video of what they are doing off the Internet. The 2004 movie also shows International Rescue as having been around for a long time, contradicting the first episode where it's made out that the Fireflash Incident was the first rescue. Don't forget that many series examples exist, including having a crust of topsoil form over a large gaping hole.

And an island in the South Pacific having a five-hour time difference with the UK. Dream Sequence : In Thunderbirds Are Go, Alan has a lengthy dream in which Penelope takes him to a nightclub in space. Drill Tank : The Mole, one of TB 2's pod vehicles, sets a gold standard for the type. It has rockets to push it into the ground, for fab's sake! Drives Like Crazy : Lady Penelope, of all people, at first. She grows out of it. Well, until she's force to fly the Tiger in TB 6 . Exactly What It Says on the Tin : International Rescue. Executive Meddling : A positive example when Lew Grade ordered the series be made with hour long episodes. This required the series to delve into more sophisticated plot and characters to make up for the time, which made the series a cult classic. further series were denied after The Movie (actually two movies) bombed, although this still had some positive effects . ITV holds the rights to the series and has refused to return them to Gerry Anderson or allowing him to either remake or continue the series ala Captain Scarlet. Thankfully as of early 2011, that appears to have been resolved to allow Anderson to proceed.

Sadly, a negative example from Lew Grade, and an unintentional one at that: The show was axed from airwaves after Grade's rather unsuccessful trip to America, where all three major networks were bidding on the show. Thanks in part to Grade's playing each network off the other and trying to raise the price, when one network dropped out, the others followed suit , and Grade felt that without American involvement the show was too expensive to produce. Exty Years From Now : The series was set in the 2060s, conveniently exactly one century after it was made (as is the case with almost all of Anderson's series). Fake American : All VA's (save Virgil's, who quit after season one) were either British, Australian or Canadian, while most of the main cast was (implied to be) American. Faux Action Girl : Tin-Tin actually does have an IR uniform and occasionally joins the boys on a rescue mission... but stands as the person who ended up in need of rescue the most. Averted in the 2004 movie. Tin-Tin gets to do a bit of butt kicking. As does Penelope.

Finagle's Law : The series loves this trope, as the vast majority of episodes revolve around something going terribly wrong, thus motivating the characters into action. A notable example is the episode "City of Fire" where a giant building goes up in flames because of a car accident in the basement. Naturally, cars in The Future are all Made of Explodium ... Five-Man Band : Arguably, the Thunderbirds are the main characters. Ink Suit Actor : In the first movie, Cliff Richard appears as his 2060s descendent. An Insert : Human hands pressing a button for a puppet character. The series also liked to use cutaways to get around the problem - you'd see, say, Parker holding a cigarette when Penelope would ask for a light, then cut to another shot, then to Penelope holding the lit cigarette. One episode takes this a step further by having a human hand holding a pen in the foreground with a couple of puppets in Forced Perspective in the background. The 2004 movie, as an in-joke, cuts to a puppet hand pressing a button at one point.

Karma Houdini : The reckless driver who sets off the disaster in City of Fire, resulting in the complete destruction of a skyscraper shopping complex and thousands of parked vehicles, which must run into the millions of pounds of damages, is seen again at the end of the episode. Not only is she free and apparently not held liable for the disaster, but she has a brand new car of the same make as the one she crashed, is completely uninjured, and driving as recklessly as ever. Kid Appeal Character : Alan Large Ham : The Duchess of Royston is about as hammy as puppets get. Made of Explodium : In the Thunderbirds universe, everything can explode or burn with really cool flames if the plot commands it. Or even if it would just be really cool if something exploded. If something is introduced that might conceivably blow up, rest assured that it will have done so by the end of the episode. The tail end of the opening credit sequence has a totally random oil refinery in the background. Its only purpose is to explode. Made of Iron : The Hood crashes at least three times in the series, including once flying a light aircraft into a villa.

His face gets a bit dirty, and the film he's transporting is destroyed. It's implied, however, that he's Killed Off for Real in Thunderbird 6. Master of Disguise : The Hood, and, to a lesser extent, Penelope. Mission Control : John Tracy up on the TB 5 station, Jeff Tracy back at HQ, and Scott once he was on the scene of the rescue. Folks spent a lot of time talking to microphones on this show. The Mole : Kyrano, a reluctant example. As well as a machine named the Mole. Mr. Vice Guy : Parker would occasionally slip back into his old habit of stealing, like when Penelope caught him sneaking off to the casino with safe cracking equipment. No Celebrities Were Harmed : Many of the cast's voices or appearances were cribbed off then-current celebrities.

No OSHA Compliance : Pretty much the raison d'etre of many episodes, like the Fireflash in "Trapped in the Sky," an atomic-powered aeroplane which would have killed all of its passengers by radiation poisoning if it didn't land within 2 hours, and the Crablogger in "Path of Destruction," an atomic-powered logging machine which was going to blow up if not shut down properly. Obstructive Code of Conduct : IR's policy of strict secrecy concerning their equipment when the Tracy family could possibly save thousands of lives, not mention make a spectacular profit, by licensing out the designs of their Thunderbird vehicles to the various nations and organizations wanting to augment their own emergency response forces. Presumably, this is to keep IR's equipment unique and the plot complication of keeping that secrecy. Padding : A positive example to a degree. When Lew Grade insisted that the episodes be hour long ones, the producers had to pad out the time of their first stories already scripted and in production. What they did was add in additional plot twists and character asides such the trope immediately below which gave the stories a great sophistication than what they thought was possible.

Parental Bonus : As a true "all ages" program, episode plots and characters were very well written, particularly after the episodes were lengthened to an hour. Phony Newscast : The 2004 movie somehow manages to shoehorn a reporter (the same reporter at that) into every scene in which the Thunderbirds appear in the outside world. Rich Idiot With No Day Job : The Tracys. Penny, too. The Same but More : The appearance, technology and culture of the 2060s was built by taking that of the contemporary 1960s and turning it Up to Eleven . Sesquipedalian Loquaciousness : The title sequence proclaimed it to be filmed "In Videcolor" and " Supermarionation ". Plain-English translation: "It's in colour, and it's a (sophisticated) puppet show". The "super" in "Supermarionation" referred to the automated lipsynching. The character's voice track was fed to a solenoid in the puppet's head that moved the lips based on the audio level of the speech. Shoe Phone : Watch phones, powder compact phones and of course tea pot phones.

Shout-Out : In "Brink of Disaster," the gadgets that Lady Penelope deploys from the Rolls Royce are reminiscent of the Aston Martin in Goldfinger . Sibling Team Slurpasaur : The episode "Attack Of The Alligators!" featured an accident with some kind of Super Serum getting into the water table near a laboratory somewhere in Louisiana. Live baby alligators were employed on model sets alongside miniatures of the characters, but since working around the limitations of models and miniatures was what Gerry Anderson Productions did, it actually worked fairly well. Have a look. Speech Impediment : B-B-Brains has a t-tendency to s-stutter. T-t-t-t-taken t-to r-r-ridiculous e-e-extremes i-i-in the l-l-live a-a-a -- the 2004 film. Incendiary Exponent almost. The special effects crew were really, really good at explosions and flames, with the result that almost every episode had a spectacular explosion of some kind at some point. Talking to Himself : David Graham voices Gordon, Brains, Parker and Kyrano. Quite apart from that, The Hood talks to himself a lot.

Team Dad : Jeff Tracy is both this and the Tracy boys' dad. Technology Porn : All the time, but especially the launch sequences. Theme Naming : All the Tracy sons were named for American astronauts. The Mercury Astronauts in particular: Scott Carpenter, Virgil "Gus" Grissom, Alan Shepard, Gordon Cooper and John Glenn. Jeff being a former astronaut himself, it's probable that this is an in-universe example. Theme Tune Cameo : Virgil plays the theme song on a piano at the end of the pilot episode. This Looks Like a Job For Aquaman : Poor Gordon, and his favored ride, Thunderbird 4. His skills as a diver and submersible pilot were not useful as often as he might have liked. Most of the times he was called out on a rescue he was riding shotgun with Scott or Virgil as generic backup, and despite being a Tracy brother he was less important to the plot than Tin-Tin, Brains, or Penny almost all the time. TB 4, despite being a main-line vehicle, was the size of a van next to a fleet of giants, and was overshadowed in importance by many barely-seen robotic pod vehicles, like the Mole.

On the few occasions when there was danger at sea, he really did shine. And he did have more to do than John Tracy, who was stuck on Thunderbird 5 just about all the time (in part because Gerry Anderson didn't like how the puppet looked - to the extent that "Operation Crash Dive," the only episode in which Thunderbird 5 actually does something other than relay the mission of the week, coincides with Alan being on duty relieving John!). To the Batpole : The famous "rotating furniture" that took the Tracys from the house to the hangars. Traveling At the Speed of Plot : Thunderbirds 1, 2, and 3 are all ridiculously fast, moving anywhere around the globe (or Earth orbit) inside of a few hours. For example, Thunderbird 1 once flew from Tracy Island (somewhere in the Pacific Ocean) to London, England at a quoted speed of at least 7500 mph, which is just shy of mach 10. Tie-in media establishes TB1's top speed as 15,000 mph, and TB2's as 5,000 mph.

TB1's speed was given in the original script for the pilot episode ("Trapped in the Sky"); TB2's is quoted on-screen in "Terror in New York City". This was parodied, like every other aspect of the show, on Team America - the Team's helicopter, jetplane, and rocket are shown flying alongside each other. The 2004 film is ridiculous with this. In the climax, Thunderbird 2 manages to get to London from Tracy Island (in the freaking South Pacific) in the amount of time it takes Parker to pick a lock, a lock which is even implied to be straightforward for him to pick. Thunderbird 1 proceeds to make the same journey in the amount of time it takes the Mole to drill under the Thames into the 'Bank of London' . The Unfavorite : John Tracy was disliked by Gerry Anderson. In theory John and Alan swapped off every month between monitor duty on TB 5 and acting as pilot for TB 3, but only once was John ever along on an actual rescue. Sylvia Anderson liked him, though, so he was still a bit player in every episode. Unlike poor Gordon.

It was actually equal parts "disliked" and "writing for six central characters is hard as hell". Who Watches the Watchmen? : In the movie, "Who will rescue the rescuers?" Women Drivers : Played unfortunately straight in "City of Fire" and "Vault of Death." Averted in later episodes, when Penny actually does learn to drive. Writers Cannot Do Math : The Fireflash's stated top speed is Mach 6, yet it still takes several hours to get anywhere. Rule of Drama , perhaps, but Mach 6 is approximately 4,000 mph. Zeerust : The Thunderbirds themselves, particularly 1 and 2, were based on aircraft and prototypes that were state-of-the-art at the time; TB 1 on the MiG 19 and 21, along with a series of X-planes, and 2 on experimental lifting-body aircraft. And of course everything high-tech has clicky panels, big shiny microphones and chrome-plated-chrome. And reel-to-reel tape drives, of course. Not to mention that things like internet, mobile phones, Ipads etc. are not present at all in the futuristic world of the Thunderbirds.

Thunderbirds - Childrens TV | Jedi's Paradise Thunderbirds Thunderbirds is a 60’s Children’s TV puppet show that would become a Phenomena. The show has refused to die, as each generation of children get to see the show, they fall in love with it and Thunderbirds fever starts all over again. On numerous Christmas's the number one toy has been 'Tracy Island', the HQ of International Rescue. This was a children's show that was on for a staggering 60 minutes, with fantastic looking models and quirky looking puppets (but don't mention the visible strings). The kids loved it and so did the adults, it was a family show. Added to this, the production values and great camera angles, you couldn't ask for more. One thing we do know is that Gerry Anderson was never really excited about Thunderbird 3, which is why it wasn't used too often. Also he hated John Tracy as a character, so was happy to stick him out of the way (in space) on Thunderbird 5, but he wasn't very happy with the design of the Space Station either. Thunderbirds has spawned a number of movies over the years.

Thunderbirds Are Go and Thunderbird 6 again used the puppets, but the third Thunderbirds movie was a live action one, which was directed by Jonathon Frakes (Commander William Riker from Star Trek the Next Generation). Also we should forget that the Japanese created a Thunderbirds cartoon called Thunderbirds 2086. Story The world didn't know it, but they were about to find out that there was a new global rescue service called International Rescue. There was no publicity, no interviews, nothing. Instead they just appeared one day to help rescue the Fireflash aircraft, which had a bomb on board. Their technology outstrips anything that has been seen before and they use craft called Thunderbirds. These are mostly rocket ships, but one of the Thunderbirds is a Space Station orbiting the Earth. The governments of the world don't know anything about them. International Rescue ask for assurances that they aren't tracked and the organisation is kept secret. But a mysterious character called 'The Hood' knows about International Rescue. He knew they were about to make an appearance on the international stage and he wanted to steal their secrets. The secret base of International Rescue resides on a tropical island in the middle of an ocean, called Tracy Island.

This island is owned by the Tracy Family, but even if you visited the Island you would never know it was their base. This is because all of the Thunderbird Rockets are hidden from view in underground caverns. Each of the Thunderbirds is piloted by one of the Tracy brothers. Whenever they contact their father on Tracy Island, then the eyes of their portrait of light up showing who is calling in. This portrait then turns into a TV screen allowing them to talk and see each other. They inform their father of the emergency and he then decides which Thunderbird will get the rescue call. Once informed the pilot goes through a hidden door and takes a fantastic route to get to their craft. The palm trees part, or the swimming pool moves and Tracy Island reveals that it has been hiding a Thunderbird craft, before it blasts off to tackle the current emergency. The Thunderbird craft were designed and built by Brains and he used Sir Jeremy Hodge to help him get certain components of the Thunderbirds craft manufactured secretly in Europe. Thunderbirds Characters Jeff Tracy (voiced by Peter Dyneley) He is the head of International Rescue and the father of the Tracy boys. He was an astronaut for the USA and was one of the first men to land on the moon.

When International Rescue is on a mission, then he is normally found co-ordinating the whole operation from Tracy Island. He has quite a domineering personality and is always bossing around his sons, even when they aren't on a mission. He likes saying 'Thunderbirds are go' and is the only person who calls Lady Penelope by a shortened name - 'Penny'. Scott Tracy (voiced by Shane Rimmer) He is the Tracy brother that pilots Thunderbird 1. This is the flagship of the International Rescue organisation and is used for rapid responses. When piloting the craft, the control area inside can rotate in line with the rocket (such as when Thunderbird 1 is horizontal). It can travel at speeds in excess of 15 thousand miles per hour. He is the most senior in command of the Tracy Brothers. When dealing with a situation, he come straight to the point and doesn't suffer fools gladly. He is a natural leader and thinks fast when under pressure and gives ultimatums when necessary. He is the on the scene co-ordinator and can send an airborne remote control camera to get a closer look in the danger zones.

Virgil Tracy (voiced by David Holliday / Jeremy Wilkin) He is the Tracy brother that pilots Thunderbird 2. This a cargo carrying craft and it can carry a different containers each mission. The container (pod) fits into a hole in the middle of the craft to make it complete (we were always trying to guess which numbered pod they would use this time). Compared to Scott, he is calm and softly spoken. He is the king of controlling remote control vehicles. He normally drives one of the vehicles, while controlling the others. Who said that men can only do one thing at a time? Poor Virgil was on the receiving end from an experimental warship when Thunderbird 2 strayed into its path. The warship fired its missiles at it when it had no positive ID of it. They damaged the back end of the craft and he blacked out, luckily he regained consciousness and regained control of a heavily damaged Thunderbird 2. He also gets to drive most of the vehicles contained in the pods. To relax, he like to play the piano. Alan Tracy (voiced by Matt Zimmerman) He is the Astronaut that pilots Thunderbird 3, which is a giant space rocket (200 feet tall).

It is used for space rescues and for transportation to and from Thunderbird 5. Alan is going out with Tin Tin (she's his girlfriend) and he is one of the youngest Tracy brothers. Gordon Tracy (voiced by David Graham) He is the Aquanaut that pilots Thunderbird 4, which is a underwater and sea surface craft (mini submarine). Most of the time it is transported to its destination by Thunderbird 2. This small craft is one of the fastest vehicles on or under the sea and is used for underwater rescues. John Tracy (voiced by Ray Barrett) John seems to have chosen a lonely existence on the Space Station called Thunderbird 5. Even though he is on his own most of the time, there is a massive International Rescue sign on the inside of it, wonder who's benefit that's for? But this Space Station has a very important job of monitoring all frequencies on the planet for people who are in need of aid from International Rescue. This is the centre of the organisation's communication network. Brains (voiced by David Graham) Brains is the person that designed and built the Thunderbirds and the gadgets that go with them. He even goes on missions with the others when his expertise is required.

He wears massive glasses, but no one seems to mention it (maybe he's sensitive about them?). He also he has a stammer. He also has a great video watch that allows him to speak to the other members of International Rescue when he's out on a mission. Trouble is most people think he's just a nut speaking into his watch! Lady Penelope Creighton-Ward (voiced by Sylvia Anderson) She is one of International Rescue's Secret Agents. She lives in England in a massive mansion, so she has money. She is softly spoken (she speaks posh) and looks like she couldn't harm a fly, but this is a front and in fact she can be extremely cold and calculated when required. She is a very fashionable person and always looks good. She owns the biggest fashion accessory, a Pink Rolls Royce. This car was specially made and has 6 wheels and a host of hidden gadgets, such as machine guns, plus its bullet proof. Her communicator at her mansion is in the teapot lid. Parker (voiced by David Graham) He is the butler of Lady Penelope and knows that she is a Secret Agent for International Rescue.

He helps her out with her missions and chauffeur drives her around in the Pink Rolls Royce. Parker tries to put on a posh accent, but doesn't quite make it. Kyrano (voiced by David Graham) Kyrano is the Manservant of the Tracy's and lives on Tracy Island. He is also the brother of International Rescue's nemesis, The Hood. The Hood tries to enforce his will on Kyrano via a telepathic link, which has Kyrano rolling around in agony. You would have thought he would have informed the Tracy family of this, but we can only assume he does not remember what has been done to him. Tin Tin Kyrano (voiced by Christine Finn) She is Kyrano's daughter and has been educated in the finest American Universities and she has travelled around Europe. Mainly she stays on Tracy Island and keeps Jeff company and carries out some secretarial duties. Tin Tin is classed as a member of the family and is currently the girlfriend of Alan Tracy. We would class her as a fashion victim, as she really tries to make a fashion statement, but don't always pull it off, such as the strange scuba diving outfit she wears.

The Hood (voiced by Ray Barrett) The Hood is a mysterious man, who lives in a temple in a Malaysian jungle. He is always after the secrets of International Rescue to make him a wealthy man. To accomplish this he tries to lure International Rescue to pending disasters, such as a bomb on the nuclear powered Fireflash passenger aircraft. When a Thunderbird lands, then he is waiting to sneak aboard and take photographs of the equipment. Luckily the craft are fitted with surveillance detectors, which alert the pilots to this threat and in the process, destroy the photos. Kyrano is his brother and he uses mind control to take over him and do his evil bidding, to help him find the base of International Rescue. You see, he has powers that we do not fully understand and you can tell when he is using them as his eyes glow yellow. Luckily Kyrano eventually broke the control over him, but he can also use mind control on whoever else he meets! Always be on the lookout for The Hood. You might not recognise him as he is a master of disguise. He uses realistic rubber masks to hide his identity. Grandma (voiced by Christine Finn) She is the mother of Jeff Tracey and she likes to look after the boys.

Once she baked an apple pie and accidentally put her edible transmitter in it. Unluckily it was Jeff Tracey that ate it! Thunderbirds T-Shirts T-Shirts (Europe) - NONE T-Shirts (USA) - NONE

Question: Who in the 'thunderbirds' puppet series, is the 'Space Monitor'?
Answer: JOHN TRACY